I have a Walmart nearby--and their seed is the cheapest...
HD is more expensive--and we DO NOT have an employee discount.
Many people do not know that.
I have a practical outlook on all this.
"Here are the seeds--eat them! --or go hungry!
G.
Birds of the mid-Atlantic (and other critters too)
I think our neighbor spent the entire night on the Volleyball court and didn't seem in any hurry to leave this morning either.
The neighbors across the road came out two nice young ladies with their 2 children. They walked down the street just a bit making sure the kiddies stayed clear of a slowly moving car. Stopped under a tree well off the road and said Hi to a couple of bike riders that were going by.
Cute pictures, Holly! I'm still glad I don't see them in my neighborhood. :)
Disinfect your bird feeders! http://www.cbsnews.com/news/have-a-bird-feeder-it-might-be-spreading-pink-eye/
They may be spreading pink eye!
Nice photos, and I like your narration!
Do you suppose that fox is tame? I'm surprised to see it hanging out in an exposed spot during the daytime.
I know I'm going to have to clean 2 of my feeders tomorrow because the seed tends to get moldy when it rains this much, even though they're hanging under oversized baffles.
Cute, Holly! I hope you're getting sunshine there while we get rain.
Yeah, yucky feeders...stop and think, simple sanitation.
No Muddy not tame. We see quite a few animals in this area they are so used to living around people but I was surprised that he hadn't picked a more sheltered place. The sand would have been soft and warm. We had quite a few nice days mostly over cast but without much rain. Now it should rain for the next few days. I think next week will be sunny. We moved yesterday to another house and will be here till Sunday then we will move over to Jane's place at Barrier Island for another week.
We were to stay in the house we were in first till Friday then meet Jane's daughter for a weekend together at a house she has access too. Then on Sunday move into our other place. Jane's daughter called and said she wasn't coming because of the rain but that the house was empty and available so we moved before the rain came in. This house is a bit farther from the beach but it has a golf cart to take to the beach, an outdoor pool and hot tub plus and indoor pool jut a block away. I don't think we will be doing much beaching for the next few days anyway. I do miss the sound of the ocean we could hear it from the last place but we can't hear it at this place.
poor Holly, just try to make the best of it...rofl!!
It is really tough going down here Sally LOL Jane and I took the golf cart down to the beach. It has been raining off and on all day. The sky is grey the ocean is grey the waves are wild and the beach is empty. Just beautiful.
Take care, Holly! They're now saying NC/SC is going to get the bulk of the pre-hurricane rain.
We are watching it. Hope it has cleared out before Sunday as we need to move to the new location on Sunday.
The hummingbirds are finally gone from my backyard. They were still around last weekend. One of them sat there in rain to guard the territory :o). She fluffed up her feathers to stay warm. :o).
awww!
Indoor "critter" report -- we got a new kitten 2 weeks ago! He's an American Bobtail, and his name is Byron. It suits him. Like Lord Byron the poet, he's a wild child, and he's very full of himself. He's also sweet & cuddly, when he can take a minute from his full schedule of dashing about and playing!
What a sweetie! I'm sure he amuses you folks to no end (who needs TV when you have a kitten to watch?).
Yeah, he's hysterical! He's 14 weeks old now and the FASTEST kitten I've ever seen, just runs constantly. He doesn't much care about food, because eating is an interruption to playing; I think most of what he eats, he consumes during the night. He is, however, totally addicted to any toy attached to a stick & string. One of his favorites came apart yesterday, leaving only the stick... I picked it up, wriggled it around, and he came dashing & leaping over, pawing the air where he figured the toy surely *must* be. ROFL!
Jill--
I bet Joyanna talked you into getting this kitten...........
"OH..Pretty please, MOM !!!--I promise I will take care of it!
Been there..... G.
What fun, critter!
This plump-looking hummingbird was enjoying my Salvia 'Black and Blue' this past weekend.
Hmm...she was camera-shy; I'll try again...
The hummer that was guarding the feeder is gone, but I just saw 2 more righting over the feeder :o). So they are still around.
Muddy, that is a plump hummer indeed! They gain by about 20% - 40% weight before migrating. Amazing little birds.
Jill, how are the 2 cats getting along? Cute kitty.
Actually, I've been on the breeder's waiting list for about a year... he breeds and shows as a hobby, so he's not in the business of producing pet cats, but obviously every kitten in a litter won't be show-quality or one he wants to keep for his breeding program... so the "extra" kittens are available as pets.
He prices them very reasonably, basically to cover vet care etc. for the litter. I highly recommend him to anybody looking for a kitten! Somebody asked Jim why we drove to Lancaster for a kitten instead of getting an "unwanted" one from the shelter... well, these not-quite-show-quality kittens need homes too!
The American Bobtail breed not only looks like my beloved Blake (who died nearly 7 years ago), the typical personality for the breed is also like Blake was -- sociable, people-oriented, almost dog-like. Well, Byron is not mellow, he's hyper even for a kitten! But he is very sweet and loving, curious about everything and especially interested in what people are doing. I haven't even had to train him to keep teeth and claws to himself; he's careful even when he's "rampaging." He's learning to look for a lap when he wants to nap, and he stays in Joyanna's room at night, often in her bed.
Byron will keep his blue eyes, and his faint tabby stripes should become more distinct as he gets older and loses his kitten fuzz. He actually has the same "bull's eye tabby" pattern as Blake did, in a ghost-like way, although the light has to be just right to see more than the stripes on his legs.
He and Eliot are gradually interacting more... I think Eliot is (reluctantly) realizing that Byron is here to stay. Byron, for his part, has discovered Eliot's long tail. He's never seen a cat who wasn't bob-tailed, and Eliot's tail is extra long. LOL
adding a link to the breeder's website, www.magicbobs.com
Byron's mom looked so much like Blake, and his dad looked like a lighter, blue-eyed version of "Silver Fox," on the breeder's home page.
For any who didn't meet Blake, either online or in person:
Critter, He is just adorable. I think some people don't really understand about Cats. If you said you wanted a specific breed of dog they think OK I understand that but when it comes to cats they just don't think the same way. Then add in Lancaster's rep for dog mills, saying you are going to Lancaster to get a cat they jump to all the wrong conclusions.
I think you're right, Holly, although some folks think every dog/puppy should come from a shelter, too. Our other 2 cats found us; this one, we went looking for. :-)
Oh, cute tidbit - the breeder is "Bob."
Joyanna has a new fish tank in her room, too, a 10 gallon one on her dresser. It's "cycling" now with just one fish, a blue pearl dwarf gourami. We have it on a backwards light cycle... the fish's day is her night, so she can enjoy them.
so adorable!!
Yep, Mark spent $ for Addy but that owner/breeder sure had a big job for several months!! So much care, cleaning and detailed record keeping.
You HUSH now, you'll have me getting a new pet AND an aquarium! I was looking for aquariums books yesterday and it gave me an "urge". Fortunately we have a huge aquarium store nearby, one can go gawk until the urge passes.
Looking at markings of Blake, he was a dead ringer for my DSH cat, still waddling at age 12.
Sally, repeat after me: "Every hour I spend taking care of an aquarium is an hour I can't spend gardening. Cleaning fish poop out of water is not fun." Keep saying it until the urge passes. If you're still tempted, come over and clean my aquarium and pond!
Lol! Muddy, isn't fish poop considered excellent fertilizer?
I guess it is. I did use some of the pond water to deep water nearby shrubs last time I did a water change. IF I still have the pond next year, I'll invest in equipment to make it easier to water plants with the dirty water.
LOL Muddy!
I know, nobody here is going to sit and watch fish swim. It'd be lovely to have one at the library but we don't have time or space for that.
Pratt Library in Baltimore has an indoor fish pond. We think the only reason it survives is that to get to the childrens area, you have to wend your way through ahllways and down steps. Therefore, the only people who go there are people who really care and don't let their ids make a mess.
Isn;t this too cool?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/enochprattlibrary/4117048213
Meanwhile, I am hearing chickadees now, guess I'll clean and set up a feeder.
Very cool! Love the big window and plants, too.
Best "indoor pond" I've ever seen was the tide-pool aquarium under the open staircase in the library at Friday Harbor Labs (Washington State). It went from 18" to probably 4 feet deep at the far end, easy maintenance bec. it was tied to the recirculating seawater system that supplied the labs. The anemones and so forth had plenty of plankton to eat.
I was in charge of feeding the bigger fish for a few weeks... I'd go down to the dock at night, with a light, and I'd net shrimp that were hanging around the pilings. The smaller ones would be fed to the fish (my favorite was a beautiful big tidepool sculpin who would eat from my hand), and I'd put the bigger ones into a seawater table for the midweek seafood feast. (Anybody going out on a collection run would put aside Dungeness crabs or other tasty critters that got caught in the net in addition to whatever they were trawling for.)
Tried to find a link, but my google-fu is on the blink
Sally--
I am also wondering if i should put out the big bird feeder already????
It is filled--and sitting in my club room by the door to the garden.
My hesitation is---do I wan to deal with all the seed chaff all over
my patio floor this early??? I also need to make sure nothing is closer than 4'
so the squirrels won't jump to the feeder. Their weight is enough to break the tray
off the bottom. I have glued this feeder together 3 times. I mean--it has been in pieces!
I swear if it breaks again--I will trash it....So SHE says......:o)....haaa...haaa...
*****************************************************
Talking about birds---
I have these really mouthy adolescent Wrens that sit somewhere close and c
all for their Mama in this raspy chirp. Sounds like someone is filing metal....
These chippers still have very short tails--so not grown up yet. ?????
I seldom see, or hear, the Mama any more but sometimes--I hear the different chirp
and I know mama has answered. Didn't know they nested this late?
G.
That's a lovely pond at Pratt Library. I like the sculpture!
We saw those three young Bambis again. This time eating crabapple so off our tree in the front yard mid afternoon. Then later they were back with two bigger deer. We're going camping tomorrow til Sunday. Wonder if there will be any left in the tree when we return.
I wonder whether the tree will be upright when you return?! It looks like they're pulling it over!
yeah, Jan, I hope they stop at crabapples and don't eat all the leaves!
That is really beautiful Sally,
Jill, I would love to see that indoor pond.
One of the medical centers that I took Josh to had a wave pond. I just sat down in the lobby next to it listening to the sound of the wave and marveling at it.
I don't clean my aquarium often. I have a Pleco that does a fine job and every once in a while I use the vac to pull out the dirty stuff from the stones and change out a little water. But not on any kind of schedule and my fish are doing just fine.
It is leaning.
Holly, it was just lovely... must have been at least 10x20 feet, all rocks and anemones and starfish, good pump tucked somewhere for extra current, and a few fish darting or hopping around (sculpins sort of hop). I hope it's still there!
Aha! it's the "Fernald Tank" (in the Fernald Library). And it's been recently re-done, emptied and then refilled with its residents due to renovations on the library's main floor. They removed a lot of the rocks and scooped out a bunch of accumulated mud, so it's deeper now... I preferred the "before" look, but the macro algae and critters will grow and spread out to give it a better look again. I'm bummed to read that the sculpins no longer live there. Admittedly, they blended pretty well with the rocks, but they were fun to try to spot.
Here's the article about emptying the tank, with a "before" shot. http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/enews/spring2015/pema.html
And here's a photo of the re-inhabited tank: http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/tidebites/Vol25/index.html
So glad they managed to keep the rocks "alive" with their red coraline algae and invertebrate colonies. Some of the anemones are 18" across when fully extended. We're so used to seeing "reef tanks" that it's hard to visualize the scale of this tank. It really does look like the wonderful tidepools on the rocky coasts of the San Juan Islands.
cool.
I loved sucking up the aquarium gravel with the 'vacuum', getting all the nice fish poo and using it on plants. But I'm not ready to commit to that work these days.